1. Field
Embodiments of the present invention relate to a cable tying apparatus that ties cables, such as those for telephone lines, to its band attachment part by means of a tie-band, and an electronic device having such cable tying apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Control boxes that connect to telephone lines, for example, all have an enclosure into which multiple cables are guided. This type of enclosure is integrally molded using synthetic resin material, and a band attachment part that ties multiple cables into a single bundle and thereby retains the cables is formed inside the enclosure.
Conventional band attachment parts comprise a flat affixed part provided at the bottom of the enclosure, a guide groove integrally molded in this affixed part, and a guide tube that rises from one end of this guide groove.
The guide groove has a bottom that is formed wider than the tie-band used for tying cables and a pair of side walls that respectively rise from the rims on both sides of this bottom, and opens toward a position above the affixed part. A part of the top rim of each side wall has a stopper piece formed on it. This stopper piece is used to prevent the tie-band from coming off of the guide groove, and extends into the guide groove from the top rim of each side wall. A mold removal hole is formed in the bottom of the guide groove. This mold removal hole opens into the guide groove in a manner facing the stopper pieces.
The guide tube is used to guide a tie-band into the guide groove, and the top edge of the guide tube has an inlet through which to insert a tie-band. This inlet is formed in a manner tilting toward the projecting direction of the guide tube so that a tie-band can be inserted easily. For this reason, the opening area of the inlet expands along the projecting direction of the guide tube, while the bottom rim of the inlet is located closely to the guide groove.
Cables to be tied are placed on the side walls of the guide groove in the direction roughly perpendicular to the guide groove. A tie-band is inserted into the inlet in the guide tube in this condition where the cables are placed on the side walls. The tie-band that has been inserted into the inlet is guided to one end of the guide groove via the guide tube, and let travel between the bottom of the guide groove and the stopper pieces to be finally drawn out to above the guide groove. When the tie-band is formed into a loop and tightened in this condition, the multiple cables are tied into a single bundle and retained to the band attaching part of the enclosure (refer to Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2005-51003).
According to the band attachment part disclosed in the above-identified Japanese patent application, the inlet into which a tie-band is inserted is formed in a manner tilting toward the projecting direction of the guide tube, while the opening area of the inlet expands along the projecting direction of the guide tube.
In this configuration, the expanding inlet allows a tie-band to be inserted into the inlet in various orientations. Accordingly, it is possible, for example, that inserting a tie-band at a near-horizontal angle from a point close to the bottom edge of the inlet will cause the tip of the tie-band to lift from the guide groove and pass over the stopper pieces.
If this occurs, the tie-band can no longer be tightened in a loop covering the guide tube and stopper pieces, and the tie-band ends up being improperly attached to the band attachment part. Consequently, the cables may not be tied securely depending on the diameter of the bundled cables, and the cables may move in the axial direction.
Furthermore, inserting a tie-band from directly above the inlet, for instance, will cause the tip of the tie-band to contact the bottom of the guide groove at a near-perpendicular angle. When this occurs, the tip of the tie-band gets caught at the bottom of the guide groove and this obstructs smooth insertion of the tie-band.
At the same time, the mold removal hole provided in the bottom of the guide groove may cause the tip of the inserted tie-band to get caught by this mold removal hole or even enter the hole. Particularly when the tie-band enters the hole, the tie-band will project out of the enclosure through the hole, in which case the cables can no longer be tied.